New average speed cameras are being installed in Salford and Solihull as part of an ongoing effort to make the roads safer.
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is working in partnership with Salford to replace the existing speed cameras on A6 Broad Street and on the A580 East Lancashire Road between Moorside Road and Worsley Road with a new average speed system.
The new Jenoptik cameras will check how long it takes for a vehicle to travel between two points on the road using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology and an image is captured if the vehicle is travelling excessively over the speed limit which will be used by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
The routes have been analysed to ensure the cameras are placed at optimal locations to maintain road safety by lowering speeds.
Councillor Mike McCusker, Lead Member for Planning, Transport and Sustainable Development at Salford City Council, said: “The overall aim of the average speed cameras is to make our city’s roads safer.
“We want to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads and targeting speeding drivers is a way to do this.
“Drivers who stick to the speed limits do not need to worry, it is only those who speed in Salford who will be fined.”
Dame Sarah Storey, Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner, said: “As a city-region we were working to adopt Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate all deaths and life-changing injuries on our roads.
“Speeding is a cause in most fatal collisions, and in Greater Manchester 598 people have been needlessly killed or seriously injured between 2020 and 2022 as a result of speeding.
“Having an upgraded safety camera network that can measure spot speed and average speed will play a vital role in helping us realise our Vision Zero ambitions by reducing the number of people killed or suffering life-changing injuries to zero, and to make our roads safer for everyone who uses them.”
The new cameras are part of a Greater Manchester wide scheme across 25 sites.
Jenoptik cameras are also being installed in the West Midlands as part of a continued commitment to improving road safety by Solihull Council. In partnership with West Midlands Police, the council will be installing new average speed enforcement (ASE) cameras in Berkswell, Hampton in Arden, Meriden and Balsall Common from now until the end of the year.
The cameras and equipment are in the process of being installed in Berkswell. This will be followed by Hampton in Arden, Meriden and Balsall Common by the end of December.
The installation of the village cameras follows the replacement of obsolete fixed spot safety camera sites with ASE cameras on the Stratford Road two years ago.
The capital cost of the project has been funded by the Council’s HS2 Road Safety Fund allocation and the system will then be managed as part of the West Midlands Police safety camera operations.
Solihull Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, Cllr Ken Hawkins, said: “Speeding is still one of the biggest causes of death and injuries on our roads so it’s important to do all we can to prevent people from driving above the speed limit. Our new digital average speed cameras can accurately identify speeding vehicles and help deter this extremely dangerous behaviour.”
